What do you think were the missed opportunities in Star Trek?

[Dave]

What do you think were the missed opportunities in Star Trek?

Okay, if you were Brannon Braga or Rick Berman, what would you have done that they didn't?

Which plots and characters were thrown away but could have been developed more?

Which aliens could have been more fully explored?

 

[edott]

what ever happened to the gorn?

could have at least had them in the background every once and in while.

and with the new cgi technology could have made them look good.

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by EdOtt
what ever happened to the gorn?

Good point. The costume in TOS was terrible, but why they didn't do something better in TNG or DS9 I don't know. Too early then for the kind of CGI we see today. VOY didn't go near their space. I'm sure that eventually they would have turned up in ENT with CGI but TOS gave the impression they had just been contacted so they shouldn't have really, though their space is meant to be just around the back of Klingon space. Maybe the next film could feature them if the rumours about the time period are correct.

 

[Whitestar]

I would like to have seen more of Earth or at the very least, how the outer colonies looked like, it would have been nice.

 

[Dave]

I would too. There was a lot of references to the Martian Colonies but we never actually saw Mars.

The Declaration of the Martian Colonies was some kind of defining moment in Earth or Federation politics and established independent government for all Terran colonies. The huge Federation Utopia Planitia shipyards, where the Enterprise-D was built, and Benjamin Sisko worked, were on Mars.

We did see Starfleet Academy several times on Earth, and the rest of San Francisco in the VOY episode "Non Sequitur", and New Orleans in the DS9 episode "Homefront", and somewhere in France in the TNG episode "Family", as well as the Paris office of the Federation President in "The Undiscovered Country", but we could have seen much more of Earth.

 

[snigwisp]

I havn't seen all the Voyagers, but species 8472 were only in a couple of episodes i think, and they were a great species.
Also, you seem educated enough Dave, so a couple of questions if i may:
1. At the end of Voyager, the Queen assimilates a dodgy futuristic chip, and it spreads through the collective. Is that the end of the Borg?
2. In the last TNG, Riker comes to the aid of Pickard, and he clearly says: "Warp 13"!? I can't understand that one....
3. Which is your fav series?

 

[Dave]

a couple of questions if i may:
1. At the end of Voyager, the Queen assimilates a dodgy futuristic chip, and it spreads through the collective. Is that the end of the Borg?

Well this is a science fiction series, so anything is possible. How many times have the Daleks been defeated in Doctor Who only to return again. My guess that given time they could build up immunity and survive, though severely weakened.

2. In the last TNG, Riker comes to the aid of Picard, and he clearly says: "Warp 13"!? I can't understand that one....

They simply updated the Warp Speed Scale in that possible future, the same way that they did between Kirk's era and Picard's era. As you know, Warp 13 would be impossible

3. Which is your fav series?

All are different and are products of their own time. The best wrting is probably in the original series, which is why it has not dated as much as it could have (compare it with Lost in Space). I probably enjoyed TNG Seasons 3 to 5, or DS9 Seasons 6 and 7 the most. Voyager had good ideas that were never fully developed - the most missed opportunities. Enterprise was a bad idea to begin with, but was just beginning to show some promise when they cancelled it.

 

[snigwisp]

Thanks Dave. I had no idea Enterprise became cancelled - but i must admit, i always had a dislike for that one. The theme music alone is offputting enough!

 

[Urien]

The biggest in my view was the lame death of captain Kirk.

He should have died as he lived, on the deck of a federation starship (perhaps commanding a fleet), facing impossible odds.

 

[Dave]

It was lame wasn't it? The re-filmed the scene to make it more exciting too, after fan reactions to the film pre-screenings, but even after that it was still lame.

 

[Shrek Baby]

There are many missed opportunities in Trek - but there is always time. With a new movie and a new series in the pipeline anything is possible. Here are a few things I would have liked to have seen.

1. DS9 The Movie. I know that it is not the favourite of many people, but I think it's unique setting and manner of storytelling would have made a fantastic film. Unfortunately they wrapped the series up a little too well. I love some of the ideas explored in the novels set after "What You Leave Behind" and would have really enjoyed seeing some of these developed for film/mini series.

2. Voyager being more realistic. In my opinion, one ship alone travelling without any backup, starbases for refitting, etc could not have had such an easy time as Voyager did. One of the most 'realistic' episodes was "Year Of Hell" but even then, they made it not happen! It would have been good to see the ship deteriorate slowly over time and see the morale of the crew be affected in some way. The story of the Equinox crew was more realistic - using whatever means were necessary to get home - made for some fantastic moments.

3. Villainous species not losing their impact - Seven of Nine would have been much better as a drone rather than a sex symbol. The whole Borg collective became less feared as we learned more about them (Unimatrix Zero springs to mind). Species became more understanding and forgiving in that dreadful episode where they mimic Starfleet HQ. The character of Q started off as a menacing twisted omnipotent being and became a humerous, loveable member of the family in is most recent appearance!

4. More imaginative CG shots rather than recycled ones. I realise that money is a big issue for producers, but there were some shots which were identical in completely different scenarios. For example, there is a shot showing the inside of a Klingon Bird of Prey as it is being destroyed in Generations which was reused in DS9. The destruction of the power supply at Chin'Toka in the DS9 episode "Shadows and Symbols" was reused later that season in "When It Rains" supposedly as one of Damar's rebel bases. I imagine there were many more.

5. More moral issue episodes. Some of the best episodes in my opinion are the ones which explore current moral issues in a sci-fi way. That is one of the original Roddenberry concepts. Episodes like "The Outcast", "Stigma", "Cogenitor", "Jouney's End" and "Far Beyond the Stars" will always be remembered.

I realise that there are probably many people who disagree with some things I have said - and I would welcome a friendly debate on such matters. But these are in my opinon the missed opportunities/mistakes that I wish I could rectify with Star Trek as it stands.

 

[Dave]

No argument from me. I also liked the darker DS9 and its flawed characters, but as you say, they tied the end up too neatly.

Totally agree about Voyager - it should have been a beaten up ship hobbling home on it's last legs. They also never used the Maquis-Starfleet conflict idea that was originally envisioned. After a few episodes it was impossible to tell them apart and Chakotay never said boo to Janeway. Kes never gained her psionic powers. Hence, the introduction of Borg Babe.

Villainous species losing their impact - this is a feature of any sci-fi series, but I do hate the way Voyager emasculated the Borg. At the end of the first part of 'Best of Both Worlds' they were the greatest threat we had ever seen. At the end of Voyager they were a joke. And the same with Q, though I never really liked the character as much as others seem to have.

What have you heard regarding a new series? That is news to me.

 

[Shrek Baby]

I had read somewhere that JJ was hoping to launch a new series. That was quite some time ago. I sincerely doubt that, given the setting of the new film, that the new series will have anything at all to do with it! JJ Abrams has certainly proven himself worthy of creating a brand new series (I'm thinking LOST here) but it most definitely should be set in the far future. Lets get creative...

 

[athena28]

I always felt they should have introduced gay characters.

You kept hearing they were going to, but then TPTB at the networks said no. Voyager's creators said they wanted to make Seven gay, but the network went nuts.

 

[Quokka]

I agree with what some others have said in regards to the borg. They were a great introduction originally but the more they were adapted the less they worked (IMO). Most of the changes like having a queen didnt even fit with the idea of a species constantly seeking perfection, which is what made them so scary in the first place, the fact that they werent 'evil' just completely oblivious to what we would consider morals in their minds, the pursuit of perfection was the one moral directive.

With the span of years the various series covered did they really show much evolution with the various civilisations/species? I don't really know about this one but you would think that many of the different worlds would have undergone alot of changes, social, cultural, political, technical etc some of it progressive and on other worlds very dramatic. I can't really remember if this was shown much or if the species/worlds remained largely static?

Voyager I think was largely a missed opportunity, I was really keen to watch it when it first started but it lost me after the first few seasons. Nothing really changed all that much and they never seemed to really evolve the storyline past the stage of individual episodes. As others have said having Voyager really change visually, as new technologies were added and old parts failed might have worked really well.

One thing that always bugged me a bit about ST is that for a ship of thousands, you only ever see a dozen or so people, with all the bosses the ones who go on the dangerous missions. I know its just a show and alot of the proccedual stuff was set in place by earlier shows but I thought Voyager would have been a great setting to try expand the show and give a better feeling of living on a ship of thousands.

(I havent seen much of DS9 and I wish I had now from the few episodes I have seen they seemed to do a better job of giving the impression of living in a large community and of evolving the storyline then the other series)

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

Personally I always found the later movies more disappointing than individual TV episodes. You could argue that having more money thrown at them made them forget about things like "script" & "plot" in favour of the Enterprise being destroyed (again).
Individual episodes could be bad, but at least there was always another one to see to get over it.
For missed opportunities:
More 'alternate view' episodes. Some of the episodes I enjoyed the most were not featuring the main crew, such as in "Lower Decks". What I also enjoyed in that episode was the death of one of them. Unlike the original series, no-one ever appears to die in subsequent ST franchises or at least very, very rarely. I think in such a dangerous job you have to treat your audience with a bit more respect otherwise it's just a "ho-hum, what ludicrious way will they escape unscathed this time?" situation.
Less "holodeck goes horribly wrong" episodes. It seemed every season this happened at least once. In the real world, Health and Safety would ensure these were decommissioned and never used again
More 'no-win' episodes. It slightly annoyed me that every time the Enterprise encountered a problem, it was inevitably solved at the last minute and everyone went away happily ever after. Only a few "The Masterpiece Society" & "The Defector" ever really explored the idea that there can be instances where the only result is negative.
And finally, a few more actual "science" in star trek. The episode where the Enterprise encountered a Dyson Sphere was a good/bad one as they never explored it! It was merely a plot device for Scotty's return. I would have enjoyed a few more stories theorising about current science 'what-ifs'.

Having said all this, I thought Star Trek was a damned good franchise with good episodes in all the incarnations. Enterprise died on it's backside because, IMO, the time wasn't right for another starship-based adventure. I think that was part of the reason for DS9's fresh feel, although they also sadly regressed into a starship-based series towards the end.